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Real Progress: Fifty Years of USAID in Costa Rica
Politically, too, Costa Rica topped the list. Its democratic political system
weathered economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s with no significant social conflict
and no interruption of civil liberties or individual rights. While Costa Ricans, like
democratic citizens everywhere, expressed dissatisfaction with various aspects of
their political system, its resilience is a confirmation of Winston Churchill’s assertion
that democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others.
Costa Rica in microcosm: two rural villages
To provide a more tangible perspective on change in Costa Rica over the last
half century, researchers for this study resurveyed two villages that had been
studied extensively in the late 1940s. The two villages, San Juan Sur and Aquiares,
are located in eastern Costa Rica near Turrialba. Though the two villages are culturally
similar, San Juan Sur was originally populated by small farmers, while Aquiares
is a hacienda, where families lived until recently in estate-owned housing and
worked as employees.
Economic changes
Both communities prospered between the periods of study. In both places
income and population rose. San Juan Sur was the more dynamic, with population
rising 167%, compared with 34% growth in Aquiares. Potential for gainful employment
in coffee production probably accounts for most of the difference. The coffee
plantation in the area of Aquiares increased only moderately since 1950, because
numerous coffee plantations already existed. In San Juan Sur, coffee acreage
increased sixfold as farmers converted land previously in pasture, forest, or other
crops. Part of this change reflects increased specialisation in coffee; farmers
stopped growing vegetables for their own consumption and purchased them
instead. While the increased area planted with coffee provided more employment,
the determining factor in increased incomes was higher productivity in coffee. Yields
quadrupled over the period. Coffee prices declined in real terms over the period,
offsetting some of the yield gains, but a hectare of coffee produced about 2.5 times
more in purchasing power in 1995 than it did in 1950. This is the approximate average
increase in real wages and incomes of the people in the two villages.
Thus, Aquiares and San Juan Sur prospered economically because they produced
coffee more efficiently in 1995 than in 1950. They also prospered because of
the extension of public utilities, such as water and electricity to their communities,
and from improvements in health and education facilities. While per capita income is
often used as the proxy for well-being, the link from some of the important welfareimproving
developments to incomes is tenuous. Access to water and electricity was
more affordable in 1995, but it was also dramatically cheaper in real terms because a
public grid was in place. Much of the health improvement came from better treatment
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